2:13 p.m., Dec. 21, 2010----The University of Delaware student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-UD) will be featured on the WDEL radio program, Pathways to Service, on Sunday, Jan. 16.

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Pathways to Service is a weekly program that highlights efforts by members of the Rotary Club and other service organizations to “make our local and worldwide communities better.” The show airs Sunday's at 7:30 a.m. on WDEL, located at 1150 on the AM dial.

Representing EWB-UD will be Kelley Pyle, chapter president; Dhara Amin, co-manager of the Guatemala team; and Steven Dentel, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the group's faculty adviser.

Engineers with heart

EWB-UD is an active student organization with more than 350 members dedicated to a world where everyone has access to adequate sanitation, safe drinking water and resources to meet their basic needs.

The group has been making a difference in the lives of villagers in Bamendjou, Cameroon, located in central Africa, since June 2007. Eight teams have traveled to Bamendjou under Dentel's direction to assess the community's needs for safe drinking water.

Most recently, Dentel and five UD students led the construction of a 20,000-liter ferrocement water tank that will serve as the reservoir for the community's planned distribution system.

In the future, EWB-UD plans to construct a solar powered lift station to pump more water to the reservoir and to develop a network of pipes that will provide the community with easy access to clean drinking water.

EWB-UD also plans to construct a much needed bridge in Guatemala in January, 2012. During two previous trips, students gathered soil and water samples, contacted materials suppliers in a nearby city and reached an agreement with the community to build the bridge. The team is currently finalizing a hydrologic feasibility study critical to the bridge design. Future projects directed at water quality are also planned.

Pyle, who along with Amin is a student in the UD Honors Program, hopes that sharing EWB-UD's activities on WDEL will inspire others to service.

“We hope that hearing about our organization [on WDEL] will motivate others to help someone less fortunate than themselves, whether internationally or domestically, big or small -- everyone can make a difference,” Pyle said.

Podcasts available

If you miss the show Jan. 16, podcast downloads of the EWB-UD interview will be available online at the WDEL website.

Article by Karen B. Roberts